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Fourth
Dynasty Lady - Egypt This fragment of the statue of a high-born lady illustrates one of the most curious of the funerary practices of the ancient Egyptians. In order
to guard against the possible corruption of the mummy and the
consequential extinction of the soul, they caused exact likenesses
to the deceased to be made, and then by magic ceremonies "brought
thm to life". In this way the "ka" or double
of the dead was furnished with a duplicate body, by residing
in which it could enjoy the funerary offerings and also have
its existence perpetuated indefinitely in the land of the shades.
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